INSTINCT OF ANIMALS. 



actions and guide them in certain operations 

 which cannot be ascribed to their own mental 

 consciousness, for some of their works show an 

 acquaintance with scientific principles which 

 man has only discovered by long reflection. 

 By watching closely the inhabitants of the forest, 

 the hunter will be struck with the different 

 sagacious expedients by which they provide 

 themselves with food, construct their habitations, 

 or defend themselves against their natural 

 enemies : and he will find that the capabilities 

 of all animals are proportionate to their wants ; 

 thus some have different senses more strongly 

 developed than others. Sometimes the different 

 ingenious means and artifices animals resort 

 to will almost induce the observer to suspect 

 that they are endowed with a certain amount 

 of reason ; yet, on reflection, he must be convinced 

 that this cannot be, as the ant and the bee, which 

 are of a very inferior class in the scale of animals, 

 possess an instinct more highly developed than 

 any other. The various means animals will resort 



